Cities inspired lot of authors. Many novels deal with growing cities ruled by velocity. Not going deeper in that subject, I'll let nevertheless some references here.

To begin with these first posts, I choose "Le ravissement de Britney Spears" ("Britney Spears' Rapture") which takes mostly place in Los Angeles. However, as I've never been to L.A., I'll give informations delivered by the narrator who is for that matter the only character to share his vision. I really enjoin the ones who know L.A. to add their point of view about the places the author describes, and how you find it cliché or out of step, for example.

In chapter three, the narrator introduces his arrival in Los Angeles as a joke because of the name of the mission "Poisson d'avril" (tradition occurring during April's Fool day). The day before, he was watching "Mulholland Drive", a movie exploring the limits between dreams and reality. It could be seen as an introduction to the whole purpose of his exploration, over dreams and reality between the L.A., seen through paparazzi shots or movies, and the real L.A. of the day to day workers, especially of the ones who don't have cars and take public transports. In addition, it's an introduction to his "feet-movie" all over L.A. which yet begins with a run by taxi, by night, along barely lighted roads, lined with building which programs are focused on animal cares and comfort. The run ends with the ski jump of Santa Monica Boulevard, flowing into Sunset Boulevard, until the motel he's staying at, "The end".

The following day begins his first approach by foot. Car parks, shopping centers, the south parking of the Sunset Plaza shopping center seems to be the most attractive place he found to listen to bird songs in a relative silence before the sunrise he observes from the intersection of Sunset and La Cienega. A peaceful view over Downtown towers, if avoiding the rise of the city background noise...

Here a sweet video, dawn in L.A. with bird songs and city rumour on the background.

 

// Below some novels taking place in L.A. :

"Ask the Dust" by Jon Fante, 1939;

"Chump Change" and "Short Dog" by Dan Fante (seen from a cab driver experience);

"Oath of Fealty" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, 1982 ("Set in the near future, it involves an arcology, a large inhabited structure, called Todos Santos, which rises above a crime-ridden Los Angeles, California, but has little beyond casual contact with the city.";

"The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler, 1939.

// Novel about velocity : "Fantomas" by Pierre Souvestre, Marcel Allain

 

// Track enclosed : The Mole - For the lost.

(for more tracks, here is my facebook page "Onward")

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I'll introduce you some writings or news related to some extent to architecture, enclosing some tracks, as regularly as possible. The first one I'll introduce here will be a novel of Jean Rolin, a French author who spent months in Los Angeles with no driving license. The author is very closed to... View full entry